Variable pitch spring coiler

ABSTRACT

A variable pitch spring coiler including a frame having bearing surfaces for supporting the frame on a rotating arbor. An adjustable guide at the rear of the frame receives a wire to be formed into a coil and directs it toward the arbor where, at the front of the frame, a tapered guide pin tensions and directs the wire to the arbor surface. Open spring convolutions are formed by a pitch guide bar slideably supported in the frame and extendable therefrom in a direction parallel to the rotating arbor. A manual force applied between two handles is used to extend the pitch guide bar a preselected distance where a pin extending from the pitch guide bar, and perpendicular to the arbor, contacts the last to be formed spring convolution and displaces the frame laterally on the arbor by an amount representing the desired pitch dimension in the spring. A manually adjusted stop is operatively arranged between the guide bar and the frame for setting the desired pitch dimension.

United States Patent [191 Richert et al.

[ 1 VARIABLE PITCH SPRING COILER [22] Filed: July 27, 1972 21 Appl. No.: 275,458

[52] US. Cl. 72/138, 140/124 [51] Int. Cl B2lf 3/00 [58] Field of Search 72/138, 143; 140/124 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 4/1952 Oberg 72/143 6/1928 Faust 72/143 1/1945 Walters 140/124 Primary Examiner-Charles W. Lanham Assistant ExaminerRobert M. Rogers Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Brown, Murray, Flick & Peckham [451 Apr. 30, 1974 [57] ABSTRACT A variable pitch spring coiler including a frame having bearing surfaces for supporting the frame on a rotating arbor. An adjustable guide at the rear of the frame receives a wire to be formed into a coil and directs it toward the arbor where, at the front of the frame, a tapered guide pin tensions and directs the wire to the arbor surface. Open spring convolutions are formed by a pitch guide bar slideably supported in the frame and extendable therefrqmin a direction-parallel to the rotating arbor. A manual force applied between two handles is used to extend the pitch guide bar a preselected distance where a pin extending from the pitch guide bar, and perpendicular to the arbor, contacts the last to be formed spring convolution and displaces the frame laterally on the arbor by an amount representing the desired pitch dimension in the spring. A manually adjusted stop is operatively' arranged between the guide bar and the frame for setting the desired pitch dimension.

6 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEUAPR 30 m4 FIG. 3.

FIG. 5.

i VARIABLE PITCH SPRING COILER I BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the art of coiling a spring by wrapping a wire about the peripheral surface of an arbor. When moderate production of a particular spring design is needed, for example, 50 pieces or less, the high production automatic spring coiling machines are not always acceptable due to the need for costly set-up by experienced mechanics or machine operators. Manual spring coiling methods provide an acceptable method for coiling such quantities of springs, particularly when characteristics such as large spring diameter and pitch dimension are required, necessitating extensive automatic coiler set-up time.

Conventional coiling methods are acceptable, but can also become costly due to the need for arbor guides, wire chasers or pitch adjustment bars. The present invention contains all the aforementioned tools with adjustable settings that make previous hand coiling methods obsolete. Actual tests have proven the present invention can out-perform automatic coilers on certain spring designs in quantities up to 75 pieces. It furnishes complete control during the spring coiling process in order to produce springs according to the intended design. r

For example, certain springs are designed with close wound coils wherein the successive wire convolutions contact each other. Other springs are designed with open coils whereby a pitch or space exits between the successive wire convolutions. The combinations and variations to thesespring designs are extensive. One most common combination is'a spring having at least one closed coil at each end and open coils between these ends. Conventional tools for manually coiling springs have been found to be cumbersome, inaccurate and inefficient.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a versatile apparatus'for accurate hand-coiling of springs.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for hand-coiling of springs which is easy to use for economical, and accurate repeat production of a given spring design.

It is an additional object of the present invention to construct a hand-operated spring coiling apparatus in a manner to enable quick and easy set-up adjustments which are necessary for coiling springs from combinations of different arbor and wire diameters.

It is still another object of the present invention to the following description is read in light of the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of the variable pitch spring coiler incorporating the features of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cut-away plan view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 but supported on an arbor in a spring pitch coiling position;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IVIV of FIG. 1; and

' FIG. 5 is an end view taken along line VV of FIG. 1.

FIG. 2 illustrates an arbor 11 driven by a manual or powered chucking apparatus, not specifically shown in the drawingLThe cylindrical-shaped arbor 11 is held at one end in the chucking apparatus in a manner for rotation either in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction in accordance with the coiling specification for right or left hand springs. Positioned on the arbor adjacent the chucking apparatus is a collar 12 having a wire engaging hook 13 for receiving the leading end of a wire to' be formed into a coil. In order to form springs having any one of a number of different internal diameters, the arbors employed are selected within a range, for example, from 0.125 inch to 1.250 inches.

The spring coiler shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 includes a housing 15 constructed with V-shaped arbor bearing provide a variable pitch spring coiler having a spring pitch guide bar and wire guides supported by a housing at a common side of a driven spring winding arbor.

The present invention provides the combination of a rotating arbor having a wire gripping hook for receiving the leading end of a wire after it has been delivered from a spring coiler apparatus. This apparatus includes a first guide remotely positioned from the arbor and a second guide in the form of a tapered pin that tensions the wire closely adjacent the arbor surface. These guides are adjustably carried by a housing having angular bearing surfaces and clamp to support the housing on the rotating arbor. A pitch guide bar displaces the housing laterally along the arbor by a dimension preset to equal the desired pitch in the springs being formed.

surfaces 16. A U-shaped arbor clamp 17 is slideably supported at the bottom of the housing where it is locked in place by a set screw 18 passing through a housing bracket 19. A rear guide 21 is attached to the housing 15 by a bolt 22 arranged to pass through the center of the guide into a tapped hole formed in the housing 15. As shown in FIG. 5, the guide 21 takes the form of a rectangular block having parallel drilled holes 23, 24, 25 and 26 which are of different diameters whereby any one of which may be selected according to the diameter of the wire to be coiled into a spring. After the wire passes from the guide 21, it continues in the direction toward a front guide 27 in the form of a tapered -or cone-shaped pin mounted on a bracket 28 having a centrally-arranged slot for receiving a bolt 31. A bracket identical in shape, but with tapered pin extending opposite to bracket 28 can be located at the bottom of the housing 15 for coiling left hand springs, for which purpose there areprovided tapped holes 32 and 33 for threadedly receiving the bolt 31.

A pitch guide bar 34 extends through a slot 35 formed in the housing 15 between the front guide 27 and the rear guide 21. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the bar 34 adjustably supports a guide pin 36 which extends in a forward direction perpendicular to arbor 11. A set screw 37 passes through the guide bar 34 and locks the guide pin in a desired position. The guide bar extends through the housing 15 to its side opposite the guides 21 and 27 where a pitch adjusting screw 40, having a lock nut 41, is threadedly received in a retainer 42 fastened to the guide bar 34. The guide bar is displaced in a direction parallel to the arbor 11 by a handle 43 pivotally secured by a bolt 44 to the housing 15. The handle 43 has a slotted end 45 for receiving a bolt 46 extending through the pitch adjustment bar 34. A stationary handle 47 is rigidly attached to the housing 15.

The-set-up procedure for coiling a spring having right-hand convolutions commences with selecting an arbor with the desired diameter and securing it in the chuck 10. The bearing surfaces 16 are then positioned to rotatably support the housing on the arbor and following this the arbor clamp 17 is positioned to engage the arbor at its point opposite the frame. The set screw 18 is then tightened. The desired pitch dimension to be formed between the open wound spring convulutions is ,then preselected by adjusting the set screw 40 to establish this dimension as the gap between the end of screw 40 and the housing 15. Certain features of this invention are realized by providing an arrangement of parts that will enable an operator to predetermine the pitch dimension by actual measurement of this gap. The lock nut 41 is then jammed against the pitch adjusting screw retainer 42 to maintain the setting of the screw 40. The front guide pin 27 is then positioned to a location such that the lower surface of the guide pin is in line with the top surface of the arbor 11. Bolt 31 is then tightened to secure the guide bracket 28 in this position. The rear guide 21 is then positioned by first selecting one of the guide holes 23-26 which closely approximates the diameter of the wire to be formed into the spring. After the selection is made, the guide is rotated to locate the selected hole above the bolt 22 where the guide can be set at any desired angle to guide the wire in a straight trajectory under the front wire guide and over the arbor. The guide is then locked in place by the bolt 22. The pitch guide pin 36 extends from the guide bar 34 to a position defined by a small clearance with the arbor 11 where the pin 36 is locked in place by the set screw 37.

Prior to the actual coiling operation, the housing is positioned on the arbor 11 to the extreme left as one views FIG. 2. The wire is then fed through the rear guide toward the arbor where it'passes under the front guide and secured by the'wire hook '13 to the arbor. It is clearly apparent from FIG. 2, as the wire W passes beneath the guide pin 27 and'then engages the surface of the arbor 11, that the pin 27 functions as an anvil to apply downward pressure on the wire against the arbor surface due to the wire thickness and the location of the pin 27 with respect to the arbor as described above. The arbor is then rotated in a counterclockwise direction to form a selected number of closed coils on the arbor. At the start of the next revolution, the operator applies a pressure between the handles 43 and 47 bringing them toward each other in an amount which is limited when the pitch adjusting screw 40 contacts the housing 15. As this occurs, the guide pin 36 exerts a force against the last spring convolution already formed and produces a displacement of the housing 15 laterally to the right on the arbor, but in an upward direction as one views FIG. 2. This displacement is equal to the desired coil pitch. Normally, it is preferred to accomplish this displacement within one-half revolution of the arbor. After a desired number of open or active coils have been wound on the arbor, the handle 43 is displaced in the direction away from the handle 47 to retract the pitch adjustment bar 34 and pin 36 into the housing 15. As the arbor continues to rotate, the wire is formed into closed end convolutions of the spring. The rotation of the arbor is then stopped and reversed in its direction to relieve tension from the spring. The excess length of wire is then severed from the spring close to the arbor in a manner to disengage the spring from the front guide. The housing 15 is then displaced along the arbor 11 in a direction to remove the housing from the arbor following which the spring is removed ,in the same direction from the arbor.

. The coiling procedure to form a spring having lefthand convolutions of wire commences by again selecting an arbor having a desired diameter and securing the arbor in the chuck 10. The bearing surfaces 16 of the frame are then brought into supporting contact with the arbor and the clamp 17 is brought into position as previously described. The desired coil pitch is then set by the adjusting screw 40 as previously described. The left hand front wire guide 27 and its bracket 28 are relocated at the bottom of the housing where the tapped holes 32 or 33 are used for mounting the bolt 31. The guide pin 27 is then positioned so that its upper guide surface forms a horizontal line with the bottom surface of the arbor. The rear guide 21 is positioned in the manner described previously except that the guide hole selected is located below the bolt 22 which is then used to lock the guide in its desired position. The pin 36 is extended to a position where a slight clearance exists between the end of the pin and the arbor. The pin is locked in this position by'the set screw 37.

The wire to form the spring is directed through the hole selected in the rear guide toward the front guide where it passes between the pin 27 and the arbor where the leading end of the wire is secured to the arbor bythe wire hook 13. The arbor is then rotated clockwise to form the desired number of close wound coils. If the specification calls for a compression spring with ends closed 'or squared, at the start of the next revolution, the handles 43 and 47 are displaced toward each other by an amount determined by the setting of the adjusting screw 40. During this operation, the adjusting bar exerts a pressure on the wire alreadyformed on the arbor to displace the housing 15 laterally to the right, and in an upward direction when viewing FIG. 2. The pitch dimension has now' been added to the forming of the spring coils and the desired number of open or active coil convolutions are then formed. Following this, the handles 43 and 47 are displaced away from each other to retract the pitch guide bar 34 and pin 36 within the housing 15 and the spring coiling operation is completed by forming the closed end coils. The arbor is stopped and its direction of rotation reversed to relieve tension from the spring. The wire is severed from the spring close to the arbor, thereby disengaging the front guide from the spring. The housing 15 and the spring are then removed from the arbor in the manner previously described.

After the spring coiler has been set up in the manner previously described to produce either right or lefthand coil convolutions, springs having only open coils are formed by holding the pitch guide bar 34 in its pitch determining position during the entire coiling operation. To form a spring having only closed coils, the pitch guide bar remains inactive throughout the entire coiling operation.

Although the invention has been shown in connection with a certain specific embodiment, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes in form and arrangement of parts may be made to suit requirements without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

.We claim as our invention:

1. A hand-held spring coiling apparatus in combination with a cylindrieally-shaped arbor, chuck means for rotatably supporting said arbor, and means forsecuring the leading end of a wire to be formed into a coil to said arbor, said apparatus comprising:

housing means including bearing surfaces for engaging said cylindrically-shaped arbor;

a first wire guide supported by said housing means at one side thereof;

a second wire guide supported by said housing means at said one side thereof and at a location between said first wire guide and said arbor;

a spring pitch guide carried by said housing means to extent between said first and said second wire guides for engaging a wire convolution after formation upon said arbor; said spring pitch guide including an end portion extending from said housing means at the sidethereof opposite the location of said first and second wire guides;

housingstop' means projecting from the end portion of said spring pitch guide toward said housing means for determining the pitch between wire convolutions during coiling;

a pitch actuator handle pivotally secured to said housing means and connected to said spring pitch guide for controlling the relative displacement between said housing means and said spring pitch guide in relation to a wire convolution on said arbor; and a handle means for hand support of the coiling apparatus and for resisting the force applied to said pitch actuator handle to control said relative displacement.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said second wire guide includes a cone-shaped pin for tensioning said wire passing therefrom onto said arbor.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said first wire guide includes a rectangularly-shaped block having a plurality of spaced-apart and parallel guide holes each dimensioned for slidably guiding a wire toward said first wire guide.

4. The apparatus according to claim 3 further comprising means for adjustably positioning said first wire guide for directing a wire toward said second wire guide so as to avoid the development of tension in a wire extending between said guides, and means for adjustably positioning said second wire guide relative to said arbor.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said spring pitch guide includes an elongated bar extending ported by said bar at the end opposite said guide rod.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said handle means is rigidly attached to said housing means. 

1. A hand-held spring coiling apparatus in combination with a cylindrically-shaped arbor, chuck means for rotatably supporting said arbor, and means for securing the leading end of a wire to be formed into a coil to said arbor, said apparatus comprising: housing means including bearing surfaces for engaging said cylindrically-shaped arbor; a First wire guide supported by said housing means at one side thereof; a second wire guide supported by said housing means at said one side thereof and at a location between said first wire guide and said arbor; a spring pitch guide carried by said housing means to extent between said first and said second wire guides for engaging a wire convolution after formation upon said arbor; said spring pitch guide including an end portion extending from said housing means at the side thereof opposite the location of said first and second wire guides; housing stop means projecting from the end portion of said spring pitch guide toward said housing means for determining the pitch between wire convolutions during coiling; a pitch actuator handle pivotally secured to said housing means and connected to said spring pitch guide for controlling the relative displacement between said housing means and said spring pitch guide in relation to a wire convolution on said arbor; and handle means for hand support of the coiling apparatus and for resisting the force applied to said pitch actuator handle to control said relative displacement.
 2. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said second wire guide includes a cone-shaped pin for tensioning said wire passing therefrom onto said arbor.
 3. The apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said first wire guide includes a rectangularly-shaped block having a plurality of spaced-apart and parallel guide holes each dimensioned for slidably guiding a wire toward said first wire guide.
 4. The apparatus according to claim 3 further comprising means for adjustably positioning said first wire guide for directing a wire toward said second wire guide so as to avoid the development of tension in a wire extending between said guides, and means for adjustably positioning said second wire guide relative to said arbor.
 5. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said spring pitch guide includes an elongated bar extending through a slot formed in said housing means, and a guide rod extending from the end of said bar located at said one side of the housing means, and wherein said housing stop means includes an adjustment screw supported by said bar at the end opposite said guide rod.
 6. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said handle means is rigidly attached to said housing means. 